Mechanical dehydrator and roller mill



Jan. 21, 1941. M. J. STACOM MECHANICAL DEHYDRATOR AND ROLLER MILL Original Filed Dec. 14, 1937 INVENTOR MATTHEW I 5mm BY fi wzm I ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 21, 1941 2,229,142 MECHANICAL DEHYDRATOR AND ROLLER Matthew J. Stacom,

Stacom Process Corporation,

Flushing, N. Y., assignor. to

Long Island City,

N. Y., a corporation of New York Application December 14, 1937, Serial No. 179,64

Renewed April 17, 1940 13 Claims.

This invention relates to an improvement in an apparatus adapted for use in dehydrating cellulosic materials and more particularly to an improvement in a device of the type described 5 in the Allen Patents 2,196,650 and 2,196,651. The

apparatus described is particularly useful in the treatment of tree wood, corn stalks, sugar cane, grasses, roots, etc., to separate the native saps and syrups as well as water'of imbibition and leave the solid content, mainly cellulose, in a practically dehydrated condition.

In describing the present invention, reference will be made to the drawing in which Figure 1 represents a horizontal section with parts in plan of an apparatus embodying the invention, taken on the line I-I of Figure 2.

Figure 2 is a vertical section with parts in elevation and a portion broken away, of the device, taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a fractional sectional view of a portion of the device.

In this apparatus, the ring I is positioned between the driven rollers 2 and 3. The roller 3 is mounted on a shaft in fixed bearings and the roller 2 is mounted on movable bearings adapted to be moved toward and from the ring I. A great, but yielding pressure is applied to the roller 2 to force it toward and into contact with the ring I, all in the manner and as described in the above mentioned Allen patents or in the applicant's applications Serial No. 98,208, filed August 27, 1936, and Serial No. 115,324, filed December 11, 1936. With such an arrangement the rollers 2 and 3 may be positively driven and the ring I may be rotated by the frictional contact of the rollers 2 and 3 upon the inner and outer surfaces of the ring. The material to be treated is introduced under the roller 2 and subjected to treatment between that roller 2 and the ring I. In this treatment the wood, etc., is subjected to pressures of 5000 to 9000 pounds or more of pressure per linear inch of width of contact between the ring and the roller, whereby all or nearly all of the cells of the cellulosic material 0 are burst open by the .internal pressure of the liquid within them, leaving the material in the best condition for air drying to produce a porous cellulosic material especially suited for. used in the preparation of paper, cellulosic solutions, etc.

In the construction shown in the present application, the ring I is supported entirely between the rollers 2 and 3. With this arrangement, the ring I is free to dip as material is introduced into the horn angle beneath the roller 2. This dipping of the ring I is important, since it results in a changing of the position of the horn angle to accommodate the material being fed into the high pressure zone and a shifting of the point of closest contact between the roller 2 and the ring I during the treatment, to a point above the line of maximum pressure, which line is substantially on the horizontal axis of the roller 2. Thus the vector of force applied at the point of closest contact of the surfaces will be less than the force applied on the horizontal plane through the axis of the roller. No claim is made herein directed broadly to the feature of the dipping of the ring, which is being claimed in applicants copending application Serial No. 253,202, filed January 27, 1939.

In order to retain the ring in proper alignment as it is rotated by the rollers 2 and 3, it is confined between side plates 4, 4, which may be square or of other suitable shape, yieldingly pressed against the edges of the ring by the tie bolts 5, 5 and springs 6, 6, said bolts passing through holes in angle iron uprights 1, I. As the ring I is supported only by the gripping action of the rollers 2 and 3, it can reciprocate upwardly and downwardly under the action of varying amounts of material entering the pressure zone. To reduce wear on the plates 4 and the edges of the ring I, antifriction rings 8, 8

may be inlaid or otherwise inserted in the inner faces of the said plates 4, 4 and provided with perforations 9 to be packed with graphite or other suitable solid lubricant, as indicated at III in Figure 3.

' With this arrangement the lubricant in the holes 9 will be slightly softened and will lubricate the. edges of the ring I to prevent undue wearing of such surfaces. Additional lubricant may be supplied from time to time by removing the plates or by other suitable means. For example, the plates 4 may be provided with a removable annular section opposite the antifriction rings 8, 8, which section may be screwed into or otherwise fastened to the plates. With this arrangement the lubricant used may be replaced by removing this-section.

An inlet for the material to be treated and an outlet for the treated material and drainage openings for the expressed liquids ,may be provided in the plates 4, 4 at any desired locations and of any desired sizes to conform to any particular feed and discharge mechanism that might be adopted.

With the arrangement described in this application, the dipping of the ring I may be utilized 5 to obtain the desired application of pressure to the material being treated.

This apparatus may be used to advantage in the separation of liquidssuch as sap, resin, sugars, medicinal substances, etc., from the cellulosic materials of natural plant life, such as tree wood, corn stalks, sugar cane, banana stalks (stem, leaves, etc.), leaves, such as henequen, hemp, etc., roots, stems, grasses and other plant life having reasonably tough longitudinal fibrous structure. The material is preferably passed through the pressure zone continuously and in a direction longitudinal of the fibre structure and the pressure is preferably applied to the material as the surfaces are moving upwardly, so that the liquid will fiow away rapidly and carry a substantial quantity of the heat generated during the application of the pressure. No claim is made herein to the method referred to as applied to various substances, which method is described and claimed in my copen'ing application 195,776, filed March 14, 1938, and in other copending applications.

I claim:

1. A roller mill including a rotatable ring supported between two rotatable rollers pressed toward each other with yielding pressure, and plates contacting the edges of said ring and spaced from the ends of the rollers.

2. A roller mill including a rotatable ring supported between two rotatable rollers pressed toward each other with yielding pressure, and plates contacting the edges of said ring, said plates being yieldingly pressed toward the edges of said ring.

3. A roller mill including a rotatable ring supported between two rotatable rollers pressed toward each other with yielding pressure, and stationary plates contacting the edges of said ring and being spaced from the ends of said rollers, said plates having annular portions positioned opposite the edges of said ring and having perforations therein to receive a lubricant.

4. A roller mill including a rotatable ring supported between two rotatable rollers pressed toward each other with yielding pressure, and stationary plates contacting the edges of said ring and being spaced from the ends of said rollers, said plates having perforations thereinopposite the edges of the said ring to receive a solid lubricant.

5. A roller mill including a rotatable ring supported between two rotatable rollers pressed toward each other with yielding pressure, stationary plates contacting the edges of said ring, said plates having perforations therein opposite the edges of the said ring to receive a solid lubricant, and resilient means for pressing said plates toward the edges of said ring.

6. A roller mill including a rotatable ring, a roller rotatable within said ring, said ring and roller being forced toward each other with yielding pressure, and plates bearing upon the edges of the ring and spaced from the ends of the roller.

7. A roller mill including a rotatable ring and a roller rotatable within said ring. said ring and roller being forced toward each other with yielding pressure, plates bearing upon the edges of said ring and means for yieldingly pressing the plates toward the edges of the ring.

8. A roller mill including a rotatable ring and a roller rotatable within said ring, said ring and roller being forced toward each other with yielding pressure and said ring being supported so as to dip as material is introduced into the horn angle beneath the roller, plates contacting the edges of the ring and yielding means for pressing said plates toward the edges of the ring.

9. A roller mill including a rotatable 'ring and a roller rotatable within the ring, said ring and roller being forced toward each other with yielding pressure and said ring being supported so that it may dip upon introduction material into the horn angle beneath the roller, plates bearing upon the ends of said ring, said plates being provided with perforations opposite the edges of said ring to receive a solid lubricant, and resilient means for pressing said plates toward the edges of said ring.

10. A roller mill including a rotatable ring, a roller rotatable within said ring, said ring and roller being forced toward each other with yielding pressure, and plates of the ring and spaced from the ends of the roller, said plates being provided with means opposite the edges of the ring for lubricating said edges.

11. A roller mill including a rotatable ring, a roller rotatable within said ring, said ring and roller being forced toward each other with yielding pressure, plates bearing upon the edges of the ring and means for yieldingly pressing the plates toward the edges of the ring, said plates being provided with means opposite the edges of the ring for lubricating said edges.

12. A roller mill including a rotatable ring, a roller rotatable within said ring, said ring and roller being forced toward each other with yielding pressure and said ring being supported so as to dip as the material is introduced into the horn angle beneath the roller, and plates contacting the edges of the ring and spaced from the ends of the roller, said plates being provided with means opposite the edges of the ring for lubricating said edges.

13, A roller mill including a rotatable ring, a roller rotatable within said ring, said ring and roller being forced toward each other with yielding pressure and said ring being supported so as to dip as material is introduced into the horn angle beneath the roller, plates contacting the edges of the ring and yielding 'means for pressing said plates toward the edges of the ring, said plates being provided with means opposite the edges of the ring for lubricating said edges.

MA'I'I'HEW J. STACOM.

bearing upon the edges 

